A rescue dog which has settled into his third home in his 13-year life has found a new vocation - visiting residents of an Ashbourne Care Home .

Seamus the Staffordshire Bull Terrier has lived on a converted farm with his owners Emma and Ben Mills Wallace for three years and his sweet nature and permanently wagging tail led Emma to believe he would be an ideal therapy dog.

Despite being abused in his first home, Seamus passed the necessary assessment with flying colours and he has been making weekly visits to Ashbourne Lodge Care Home to spend time with the residents for nearly a year.

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Emma, who runs a dog-friendly holiday cottage near Ashbourne, says the care home looks forward to seeing Seamus each week.

She said: "One of the residents loves it when I tell her Seamus’ story.

Ray Sherratt meets therapy dog Seamus (Image: Adrian Sherratt)

"As we now live on a converted farm with a large garden, the resident always says that it’s like Seamus is in a fairy-tale and this is his happy ending.

“It’s so wonderful when we walk into a resident’s room and see their face light up. Our regulars have always had pets of their own so being able to stroke Seamus and give him a couple of treats really cheers them up”.

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Seamus's important role has also cast him into the spotlight after a therapy dog charity helped to sign him up to model for a set of photographs.

Therapy Dogs Nationwide, the charity that Seamus and Emma are registered with, was recently approached by professional photographer Deanne Ward who was looking for models for her series of Working Dogs.

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Emma put Seamus forward and he was selected to take part. The photos have now been published online and it is hoped they will end up as part of an exhibition or a book.

Ruth Boyes BEM, a Trustee and volunteer with Therapy Dogs Nationwide, said: "Our charity's wonderful volunteers and their amazing dogs visit hundreds of people every day of the year giving non-judgmental and unconditional love to everyone they visit.

"Many volunteers also take part in our ‘Paws and Read’ scheme whereby their dogs ‘listen’ to reluctant readers thereby giving children confidence in their reading abilities and at the same time boosting their self-confidence."

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She also hopes that by sharing Seamus’ story, people will consider adopting older dogs from rescue centres, especially staffies which Emma says, despite their bad reputation, can be the most gentle and caring breed of dogs.